


Flicker

by Glowstickia



Series: Echoes of You [6]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Paranormal, Psychic Abilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24994744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstickia/pseuds/Glowstickia
Summary: While on a case, Echo and Nick find a office, devoid of ferals and radroaches. Unknown to them, there's something else that lurks in the dark.
Relationships: Nick Valentine & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Echoes of You [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718185
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	Flicker

Echo kicked at a rusting tin can across the empty office floor. It clattered somewhere in the darkness. Nothing lurked in the shadows...no ferals nor radroaches... All was quiet. 

"Quiet like a tomb," Nick stated, taking the incentive and walked towards the glowing green screen across the room. Dogmeat trotted after him, sniffing the air.

Echo made a beeline for the closest desk. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as a man in a three-piece brown suit typed away at his desk. She blinked. The room was dark again and the skeleton in a tattered suit laid on the floor. The back of the skeleton’s jacket was stained, centered between his spine and left shoulder bone. Underneath the skeleton, the floor was stained, matching the jacket. Hm. The bottom drawer to his desk was open with a dusty bottle of wine just short out of his grasp. 

"Or a wine cellar." Echo commented, careful to not touch the scattered finger bones, as she grabbed the wine bottle and raised it for Nick to see. She grinned upon hearing him chuckle.

"Sorry, can't tell Amontillado from Sherry." Nick said, taking a seat at the terminal. The green glow illuminated his face as the golden glow from his eyes focused on the screen. Echo opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Dogmeat barking somewhere in the sea of desks. "Think he found something." Nick hollered, his eyes glued to the screen as he frowned, deeply focused on what he was doing.

Echo packed the bottle in her bag and followed the barking, making sure she sidestepped the rubble and tumbled chairs and desks and bones. The lights flickered between on and off, clean and disrepair, lively and silent. "Whatcha got Bud?" she asked, carefully leaning over a desk as Dogmeat looked up at her proudly. He boofed as his tail kicked up centuries old radiation dust.

His front paw tapped at a baseball at his feet. She laughed as she picked it up. With a hum she tossed the ball back and forth between her hands. It was quiet. Must’ve been recently bought with no memories attached. She chewed her lip as Dogmeat’s tail thumped wildly. He boofed.

She laughed. “Okay, okay,” she readied her stance as Dogmeat got down, close to the ground, ready to launch. “ _ Here’s the windup. _ ” She announced, her hand slooooowly moving back. Dogmeat barked! She grinned. “ _ And here’s the pitch! _ ” She threw the ball, and Dogmeat ran speedily after it. She snorted as she heard his nails click against the ground somewhere off in the dark.

“Got it.”

Echo turned towards Nick’s voice, remembering he was in the room too. “What’d ya get?” She asked as Dogmeat zoomed back into sight, nearly running into the desk she stood behind. She laughed. “Okay, Bud, need to calm down.” She said, rubbing his face, as he dropped the drool covered ball at her feet, “Back to business.” He whined with a yawn. “IIIII  _ knoooow _ ,” she tapped his nose with her finger. He huffed before picking up the baseball and trotting over to where Nick sat, amused by the whole ordeal.

Dogmeat sat down at Nick’s feet, his tail thumping as he slowly inched closer with the baseball still in his mouth. Nick chuckled and scratched Dogmeat’s head while his free hand caught the ball. “Alright big guy, but only once for right now okay?”

Dogmeat danced as his tail wagged wildly. Nick waved the baseball in front of Dogmeat, who bounced back and forth, eyes locked on the ball. Nick raised the baseball, arched it back, and with a quick flick of his wrist, the ball flew off once again into the dark.

Dogmeat  _ immediately _ scrambled after the baseball as Echo approached the terminal Nick sat at. “You know,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning on the desk, “he’s gonna  _ beg _ you for more.”

Nick smirked. “It’ll be good for him to have a bit of fun.”

“Can’t argue with that.” She tapped the terminal with her nail, “So, what’d you find?”

Nick tapped a few keys as he scrolled through emails and notes. “Office parties,” he said, reading off the list, “shady corporate business, someone cheating on their wife-”

Echo clicked her tongue. “Just your typical day at work. Nine to five, stabbing your coworkers behind their backs…” Dogmeat gave a muffled bark as he dragged a metal pipe towards them and dropped it at their feet. Echo shook her head. “Nick, he’s learned loopholes.”

He laughed. “I can see that.” Dogmeat sat down as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, staring at Nick while he waited. “Good boy,” Nick scratched Dogmeat behind the ears, which, in turn, earned him a few licks. Dogmeat settled and laid down at Nick’s feet with a huff.

“I think you wore him out.” Echo mused.

“I think you’re right.” Nick turned back to the terminal, his metal digits tapped the screen, “Something doesn’t seem right though.”

Echo leaned over and stared at the spot he was pointing at. She frowned and moved to his side all the while still keeping her distance. In the corner of the screen was a small symbol of a rectangle with two circles inside. She tilted her head, wracking her brain as Nick watched her. “Wait, isn’t that just a holotape?” He grinned as he pressed a couple keys and a holotape popped out of the terminal. She sighed. “Well then Mr. Detective,” she gestured to the monitor, “we gonna play the tape or-”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Keep your sunglasses on,” he said, gently nudging the holotape back into the terminal, “could be what we were looking for,” he shrugged and clicked the play button, “could be absolutely nothing.”

"Could've been sent on a wild hunt," Echo mumbled as the sound of static came from the terminal. The screen flickered. A door slammed.

Dogmeat sat up. He turned to look somewhere in the darkness.

Echo bit her lip as Nick turned towards the sound. "Huh."

The lights flickered. Desks were neat and tidy, then swallowed by darkness and decay. "Okay," she said, squeezing her hands together, "I am  _ not  _ a fan of this..."

"It was just-"

_ 'They're coming.'  _ Nick and Echo turned towards the screen as a voice, hushed and panicked, spoke through the static.  _ 'They know where I am. I-I won't be able to get out.' _ Muffled sobs came through the speakers as a can rattled off to their left.

Echo instinctively reached for her rifle, poking out of her bag, as she turned towards the sound. Dogmeat was standing with his head low. His fur fluffed up. He was growling. Nick tapped the keyboard, growing more desperate and agitated with each keystroke, but the holotape kept playing.

_ 'You can't leave.'  _ A separate voice, deeper, stronger than the first, cut through the sobs. ' _ You know too much.' _

The holotape ejected itself.

"Damn it." Nick swore under his breath, as his hand flew to his side for his revolver.

The lights flickered again. A man in a brown, three-piece tailored suit stood at the far end of the desks, staring at Echo. He smiled. She swallowed as the darkness returned. " _ I really don't fuckin like this, Nick. _ "

He turned to her, his golden eyes looking her over with concern. "Just take some deep breaths." He said, keeping his tone even. His eyes scanned around them as Dogmeat backed into him, still growling. "From the looks of it, we were set up."

Echo chewed her lip as sounds of metal scraping against the ground slowly made its way towards them. Her eyes widened as the lights flickered again. The man in the suit was closer. Still staring at her, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. She blinked and the room returned to the dark. " _ We should get out of the light. _ " she whispered, as Dogmeat barked loudly at nothing.

Nick's eyes flicked to the glowing monitor. "We're sitting ducks," he said, snatching the holotape and tossing it towards Echo. "Move now!"

Echo fumbled with the tape. It was dark and dizzying as gargled screams echoed in her mind.  _ Her mouth tasted like copper _ . She licked her lips and winced, getting a full taste of the cut she just opened. Nick turned, grabbed Echo’s bicep. The speakers on the terminal crackled to life.

‘ _ You cannot leave.’ _ The voice commanded as the lights turned on and off. The man continued to stare at her as she was dragged backwards. Dogmeat barked. ‘ _ You know too much, _ **Samara.** ’

Echo stumbled back as Nick dragged her. Her rifle clattered to the ground as her hand lost grip. Her mind finally caught up and she retreated behind some rubble with Nick. She gulped some air as she slid down and rested against the cool, concrete slab. Her left arm throbbed.

“You okay?” Nick asked, sitting next to her. His voice was barely audible against her heartbeat still drumming in her ears. He tapped his arm when she didn’t respond.

Oh. Where he-

She nodded and waved him off. He frowned in concern. She rolled her shoulders and neck. “I’m-”

The lights turned on again.

She snapped her mouth shut and turned to look at Nick. He wasn’t there. Her lips thinned as she ran her fingers over the buffed and waxed tiled floors. It felt rough and gritty. A memory then, but who-

‘ _I see you.’_ A voice crackled behind her. ‘ _And I know you_ **can** _see me.’_

Echo slowly turned towards the voice. Gone was the slab of concrete. It was only a desk, shiny and new. The man in the three piece suit sneered down at her. His face was gaunt and hollow, with sunken eyes that bore through her core. She swallowed. “Who are you?” She asked, steeling her voice.

‘ _ Your end, _ ’ he said, raising his hand. The glint of a knife stared down at her.

Her eyes widened as something dawned on her. “They stabbed you in the back.”

He recoiled. ‘ _ What!? _ ’

Dogmeat barked. The lights flickered off.

“Stabbed who in the back?” Nick asked, lowering his hand from Echo’s face as she touched her upper lip.

It was warm...and wet.

She pulled her hand back.

Blood. Another nosebleed.

She wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. “The man in a brown suit,” she said, frowning at the concrete slab behind her. “Nick...do you remember the names in those emails you saw?”

His lips thinned as he rubbed his chin in thought. “There was one addressed to an Elliot.” His eyes flickered over to her, “Why?”

Echo mulled the name around in her head. She nodded. “That sounds right…” He narrowed his eyes a little. “I’ll explain... _ something _ in a bit.” She said, leaning past the rubble. Dogmeat was still growling. She didn’t have a lot of time. Please stay safe. “I’ll distract him and-”

“Now hold on,” Nick huffed as he rubbed his temple, “who are-“

“Elliot,” she turned to Nick, “he’s the voice on the terminal.” The explanation only made him stare at her like she’d grown an extra head.

“And why you had a light show behind your sunglasses?” He guessed, gesturing to his own glowing eyes.

_ Shit. _ She licked her lips and grimaced. Right. Busted lip.

“Get to the terminal,” she said, pushing off the ground.

“And do what? Cut the power?”

“Find more info about him.” She patted her bag and- damn it. She forgot she dropped her gun. “He’s after  _ me _ and I’ll keep him focused on me. Dogmeat can only hold him off for so long.”

Nick sighed. “Fine, but-”

“After this I’ll tell you what I can.” She smiled at him despite the fear bubbling inside her was  _ very much not ready for that talk. _

He shook his head. “Be careful,” he said, grunting as he stood, “don’t want to replace ya.”

She blinked. Oh. “I’ll...I’ll do my best.” She promised, saluting him before slipping past the concrete slab. She kept low, using the old metal desks as barriers, listening for Dogmeat or the static.

It was quiet.

Echo whistled, long and low. Something flashed past her face and clattered behind her. The knife. Probably. She didn’t dare look. Besides, that may mean he was disarmed now. She swallowed. At least...she  _ hoped _ that was the case.

Her hands felt the ground and grasped a chunk of rubble. She tossed it up, testing the weight. Satisfied, she arched her arm back and-  _ snap _ . The rock went flying, consumed by the darkness.

It clattered.

Must’ve hit a desk.

‘ _ Found you _ ’ Elliot crackled as the lights flickered on. He flickered, suddenly standing across the room. He looked around the desks, where she assumed the rock had landed. He shouted. Desks flipped, smashing into walls and debris.

Echo took her chance, and dashed across the room, before sliding behind a desk. The lights were off. She held her breath, hearing her drumming heart in her ears as she strained to listen for Elliot.

‘ _ Where did you go? _ ’ Elliot growled, his voice still distant, ‘ _ You can’t hide forever. _ ’

Echo rolled her eyes as she picked up another piece of rubble and tossed it somewhere across the room before hiding behind the desk again. It clattered against something metal. Probably another desk. There were so many goddamn desks around here. It was like an office or something… oh yea.

The lights turned on.

‘ _ There you are! _ ’ Elliot sent more desks flying in his wake as he stormed across the room. One of the fluorescent lights above shattered with his scream. ‘ _ I will not be made a fool! _ ’

Echo adjusted her sunglasses, took a deep breath, and scrambled to the skeleton, before sliding behind an overturned desk. She hissed, feeling the bite and sting of rubble in her palms.

The lights flickered off.

She held her breath, bit her lip, and waited. Ugh, she tasted copper again. Her eyes glanced over to the glowing terminal where she could make out Nick scanning the screen. He was deep in concentration. Cool. Good.

Her eyes widened. Wait.  _ Where was Dogmeat? _

The lights were on again.

Dim. Flickering. Broken.

The walls and floors weren’t clean. Rubble and decay remained. Elliot was losing his grip.

Echo’s heart sank as she tore her gaze from the lights back to the terminal. Elliot stood, floating behind Nick.

_ ‘You will  _ **_not_ ** _ make a fool out of me.’ _

“NICK!”

**CLANG**

Nick threw a pipe at Elliot, hitting him square in the face.

Elliot screamed. Lights shattered. The terminal exploded. Sparks and glass flew.

The office was dark.

Echo laid still. Listening. Searching the room for signs of Nick when two glowing golden eyes looked in her direction. She sighed in relief. Within moments, Nick was by her side.

“You okay?” he whispered, crouching down next to her.

“I’m good.” Truth be told, she was worse for wear, but she’d deal with her own scrapes and aches later. Elliot would be back soon. She could feel it. “Find anything?”

“He was dating one of his coworkers, a Mr. Jones. Needless to say, Mrs. Jones wasn’t too thrilled when she found out.”

Echo grimaced. “Ouch.”

Nick nodded glumly. “She sent a lot of death threats and accusations. Our, er, ‘spectral friend’ sent them to Jones for the two to laugh at.” His gaze shifted to the old terminal, still sparking. “...Their last message mentioned wine.” He looked at her.

Echo blinked. “ _The wine._ ” She grunted as she stood. Her body screamed at her as sudden aches and pains protested the movement. She dug around her bag and pulled out a bottle of wine. “Hey! Elliot!” She shouted, waving the bottle in the air by its neck.

Nick stared at her in alarm as a man in a brown three piece suit stared at her from across the room. 

_ ‘You.’ _ He growled, as fog, thick, white, and glowing, billowed around him.  _ ‘You will put that down  _ **now** _.’ _

She felt a tug on the bottle, but held firm as turned to Nick. “Get the cork. Please.” She tipped it towards him.

**_‘NO!’_ **

**POP.**

Echo grinned at Nick. “Thank you.” She said, as wind began to pick up around them.

‘ **_STOP!’_ **

She raised a brow at Elliot as she took a couple steps forward, allowing him to waste energy, still pulling the bottle. She stopped at the bones with a tattered stained suit, pushed her sunglasses up, and stared Elliot in the eyes. “Nemo me impune lacessit.” She said and poured the bottle’s contents onto the skeleton.

The tugging. The wind. Everything stopped.

Elliot's rage was quenched.

His body becoming dimmer...fainter… He stared at her as a smile flickered on his face. ‘ _ Thank you. _ ’

And he was gone.

Echo sighed in relief as she sank to her knees. She let the wine bottle roll out of her hand and stared into the darkness. She heard Nick’s footsteps as she slowly lowered her sunglasses back over her eyes. Echo looked up at him as he held his hand out to her.

“Need some help?”

She huffed a laugh. “Yeaaaaah,” she clasped his hand and hissed a bit as he helped her to her feet. Her hand stung. “Ah, I’ll be fine.” she said, clenching her hand before Nick would see, “Just, a bit worn out.”

Even in the darkness, he didn’t look convinced.

Her lips thinned, and before either could say another word they heard a muffled bark. Dogmeat trotted over, half carrying, half dragging, Echo’s rifle in his mouth.

“Good boooy,” Echo cooed, scratching his face as he returned her rifle to her.

Nick chuckled. “Always arriving in time, bringing exactly what we need.” He said, as Dogmeat’s tail wagged wildly. “It’s like you have a sixth sense or something.” Dogmeat yawned.

Echo adjusted her bag and sunglasses as she turned back to Nick.

“So, uh, Nick...do you believe in ghosts?”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I heard you liked Cask of Amontillado. :3c Wanna, check out my wine cellar?
> 
> BONUS CONTENT: [Nick's POV](https://falloutglow.tumblr.com/post/628627236481826816/pov-please)


End file.
